Transportation YOU

On June 20th, over 50 WTS-Boston members and industry professionals gathered for a brown bag lunch presentation on MassDOT’s Road Safety Audits (RSA) procedure. Michelle Deng, a 2017 WTS Emerging Professional who works in MassDOT’s Traffic and Safety Engineering Department, lead the presentation. Michelle has attended and reviewed over 50 RSAs throughout the state. During the presentation Michelle reviewed the MassDOT site and crash data that was available for download, see http://services.massdot.state.ma.us/crashportal/. Michelle stressed that it is just not motor vehicle accidents that need to be considered but also pedestrians and bicyclists. She had the following tips:
• Use Traffic Data from the past 3 years
• Use Bicycle and Pedestrian Data from the past 10 years
• Confirm that crashes are not from parking lots
• RSA need to be done prior to the 25% plans and Environmental Impact Report (EIR – if required)
• If no data is available on the MassDOT site, check with local police
• And most importantly be descriptive

Thank you to Michelle Deng and MassDOT for hosting the workshop, as well as the following WTS-Boston Professional Development Committee members who contributed to the success of the event: Christine Breen, Wynn Design and Development; Jackie Davis, Howard Stein Hudson; Stephanie Bridges, Kleinfelder; Carolann McCarron, MBTA; and Allene Rieger, Amanda Finelli and Kim Bean, TranSystems.